FERPA for Students

Overview

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (also sometimes referred to as the Buckley Amendment), is a federal law regarding the privacy of student records and the obligations of the institution, primarily in the areas of release of records and the access provided to these records. Any educational institution that receives funds under any program administered by the U.S. Secretary of Education is bound by FERPA requirements. Institutions that fail to comply with FERPA may have funds administered by the Secretary of Education withheld.

Education Records

Under FERPA, education records are defined as records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by an education agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. Education records can exist in any medium, including: typed, computer generated, videotape, audiotape, film, microfilm, microfiche and email, among others.

Education records DO NOT INCLUDE such things as:

Sole possession records such as records or notes in sole possession of the maker, used only as a personal memory aid and not revealed or accessible to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record. (This might include notes an instructor makes while providing career or professional guidance to a student.)
Medical treatment records that include but are not limited to records maintained by physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists.
Employment records when employment is not contingent on being a student, provided the record is used only in relation to the individual’s employment.
Records created and maintained by a law enforcement unit used only for only that purpose and revealed only to law enforcement agencies of the same jurisdiction, as long as the enforcement unit does not have access to education records.
Post-attendance records such as information about a person obtained when the person was no longer a student (e.g., alumni records) and does not relate to the person as a student.

Access to Student Education Records

According to FERPA, personally identifiable information in an education record may not be released without prior written consent from the student. Some examples of information that may not be released without prior written consent of the student are:

Birth date
Religious affiliation
Citizenship
Disciplinary status
Ethnicity
Gender
Grade point average (GPA)
Marital status
SSN and student ID number
Grades and exam scores
Test scores (such as SAT, GRE, etc.)
Progress reports such as STARS

The university will not release personally identifiable information from a student’s education record without the student’s prior written consent. Even parents are not permitted access to their child’s education records unless the student has provided written authorization permitting the parents’ access. Exceptions are noted in the university’s policy (located in the Office of the General Counsel and in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs) concerning the privacy of student education records and include: access by university officials the institution has determined to have a legitimate educational interest; access by school officials at other schools where the student seeks to enroll; access for the purpose of awarding financial aid; and subpoenas.

“University officials” typically include anyone employed by the university in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position; any person elected to the Board of Trustees; students serving on official university committees; and people employed by or under contract with the university to perform a specific task.

A university official has a “legitimate educational interest” if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibility.

Student’s Right to Review and/or Correct Their Records

Students and former students have rights to inspect and review their education records within 45 days after the university receives the request for access. The right of inspection and review includes: the right to access, with an explanation and interpretation of the record, and the right to a copy of the education record when failure to provide a copy of the record would effectively prevent the student from inspecting and reviewing the record. The institution may refuse to provide a copy of a student’s education record provided such refusal does not limit access.

Limitations exist on students’ rights to inspect and review their education records. For example, the institution is not required to permit students to inspect and review the following:

Financial information submitted by parents.
Education records containing information about more than one student. (However, the institution must permit access to that part of the records that pertains only to the inquiring student.)
Confidential letters and recommendations placed in the student’s file before January 1, 1975.
Confidential letters and statements of recommendation placed in the records after  January 1, 1975, to which the student has waived their right to review and that are related to the student’s admission, application for employment or job placement, or receipt of honors. Upon a request from a student, they will be notified of the names of the persons making the recommendations and that such recommendations cannot be used other than for their intended purposes.

A student has the right to request amendment to any of their education records that they believe are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of their privacy rights under FERPA. Should a student believe an education record is inaccurate or misleading, a request for amendment or correction should be addressed, in writing, to the university office maintaining the record in question. The custodian of records for that office may correct or amend the record in question or may determine that the record is accurate as it stands.

In instances when a dispute cannot be resolved between the student and the office maintaining the record in question, the student may request a formal hearing by the university to resolve the issue. Questions about and requests for formal hearings should be directed to the Office of the General Counsel. This provision for amendment does not apply to disputed grade information on academic transcripts.

Types, Locations, and Custodians of Education Records

Type	Location	Custodian
Academic Records (Dental students)	Registrar, School of Medicine	Registrar, Dental School
Academic Records (Medical students)	Keith Administration Building at the Health Sciences Campus	Keck School of Medicine Registrar, Office of the Vice Dean
Academic Records (Law students)	Law School LAW 300 MC 0071	Registrar, Law Center
Academic Records (Undergraduate/graduate students)	Registration & Records JHH Lobby	Registrar
Financial Aid Records	Admission/Financial Aid JHH 340 MC 0911	Associate Dean
Financial Records	Financial Services UGB 203 MC 8002	Executive Director
Health Records	Student Health Center ESH MC 3261	Director, Patient Care
Student Conduct Records	Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards Office STU 206 MC 4894	Director

Directory of Public Information

FERPA has specifically identified certain information called directory information that may be disclosed without student consent. Although directory information may be disclosed without student consent, USC is not required to release directory information. USC has designated the following information as directory information and may release this information, unless the student has submitted a request for non-disclosure:

Address (local and permanent)
Telephone number (local and permanent)
University email address
Student identification number (USC ID)
Student photo
USC attendance dates
USC degrees earned (with dates)
Academic honors
Major, minor and degree objective
Expected date of graduation
Previous schools attended
Enrollment status (class level)
Currently enrolled (Y/N)
Participation in officially recognized activities and sports

USC has designated the following additional information as directory information for graduate students who have appointments as Teaching Assistants, Assistant Lecturers, Research Assistants, or internally-funded Fellows in one of USC’s STEM disciplines:

Department
Work location/address
Work telephone number
FTE/weekly hours

Facts About FERPA

Students have three primary rights under FERPA. They have the rights to: inspect and review their education records; have some control over the disclosure of information from their education record; and seek to amend their education records, under certain circumstances.
A student’s FERPA rights begin when the student registers and attends their first class.

NOTE: Students who originally sought admission to one program of study at the university and were denied, but subsequently are admitted and enrolled in a different program of study, have FERPA rights only in their admitted/enrolled program of study.
Under FERPA, education records are defined as records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by an education agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. Education records can exist in any medium, including: typed, computer generated, videotape, audiotape, film, microfilm, microfiche and email, among others.
According to FERPA, a student can request that while they are still enrolled, the institution not release any directory information about them. Institutions must comply with this request. At USC, students who wish to restrict the release of directory information about themselves must fill out the Student Request to Restrict Directory Information form and email it to gtv@usc.edu.

Students can choose to restrict online student directory information only or they can restrict the release of all their directory information. Students will be required to renew the request at the beginning of each academic year.

Students who wish to restrict directory information should realize that this action could have negative consequences. The names of students who have restricted their directory information will not appear in the Commencement Bulletin or other university publications. Also, employers, credit card companies, loan agencies, scholarship committees and the like will be denied any of your directory information and will be told that we have no information available about your attendance at USC.
At the postsecondary level, parents have no inherent rights to access or inspect their child’s education records. This right is limited solely to the student. At USC, records may be released to parents only if they have been given a written release by the student or in compliance with a subpoena.
If non-directory information is needed to resolve a crisis or emergency situation, an education institution may release that information if the institution determines that the information is “necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals”. Factors considered in making this assessment are: the severity of the threat to the health or safety of those involved; the need for the information; the time required to deal with the emergency; and the ability of the parties to whom the information is to be given to deal with the emergency.

Questions or Concerns

General questions may be directed to any of the following offices, as appropriate:

Comments or suggestions should be directed to the Office of Academic Records and Registrar.

FERPA Definitions

Familiarize yourself with FERPA terminology.

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